Continuing from where I left off before, because the list just got too damned wordy, I want to instead focus on the more volatile pieces of anime fandom that piss me off. Unlike the first five items, which are just general fan pissing contest annoyances, these next five are much more serious. My friends and copatriots on this site, Kylaran, Sorrow-kun, and Akira, have been trying to bring out an awareness of the otaku nature both from aspects in the west and in the east. Their works have inspired me to bring forth more issues I find are important to anime fandom. These five items deal with the potential harm of fandom, the mental state of some fans, and the importance of personal freedoms and liberties. Because of this, I toned down trying to be antagonistic and curbed the swearing quite a bit, as I really want the readers to understand where I am coming from here. Sure, I still take some pot-shots at the fringe, but I do it out of love. I sincerely hope these last five are read with an open mind, as there is an “ugly” aspect to otakuism that we need to explore.

5. You’re Not The Author (Part 1, the Ragers) – Sometimes what a mangaka or a director decides to do with their work makes little logical sense and leads to confusion. Certainly, I’ve seen more than one show ruined by a half-assed attempt at a resolution. I think we can all agree that being a fan means that you get involved with the product placed in front of you and when passions run high, sometimes the shit hits the fan (or the fan hits the shit).

That line ends eventually, faggots. Remember, you’re just a fan. To you, that might mean that your opinion on another person’s work is warranted, and I’m not here to stop you, but you’re not allowed to go beyond that. You’re not allowed to blackmail staff, harass the creators, get people fired, or threaten these people with bodily harm or death. For those of you too stupid to know what I am talking about, a quick and easy example of the fans just going too damned far would be Hideaki Anno’s ordeal with the fans regarding the ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion. No, I am not going to detail; you can go look it up yourselves. Some fans would justify these actions by pointing out that Anno eventually went back and “finished” Evangelion to their satisfaction. First of all, you don’t know if your actions led to this. Second of all, the ends never justify the fucking means. Third of all, who gives a fuck if you’re not satisfied with an ending?

Want to rage and be justified? Go read some NTR.

(For more on this, see Akira’s wonderful article on The Purity Fixation where he mentions an incident I had happily forgotten about: Kannagi-Gate.)

4. You’re Not The Author (Part 2, the Shippers) – I thought about just lumping this group into one category with the previous group, because you’re all a pack of insane wackos who get really damned angry when what you want doesn’t happen. I’ve heard stories about threats being made to mangaka when they didn’t pair particular flavors of ice cream together in a romantic relationship. I think where this group truly separates from the Ragers is the levels of mental delusion fans demonstrate.

Shippers rarely require any sort of logic or reasoning beyond the most superficial reach. Inoue Orihime and Ulquiorra are destined to be because they happened to share a number of panels together in the manga. Oh and they spoke, too! This is the kind of banal rationale needed to ship two completely unlikely characters together. But it doesn’t stop there. The shipper will deny any and all facts present that destroy this theory, even if the manga / anime is completely over, because they can.

Wish fulfillment is nothing new to an anime fan. It has been talked about here by writers better than me and I will get into it more below, but you don’t really have a right to persist in being an irrational boob. I’m all for a bit of fan art or fan fiction having fun with certain possibilities, but shippers aren’t content with this “alternative”. Well, far be it from me to not crush anybody’s hopes and dreams but… hey Shippers! It aint going to happen! None of it! Knock it off!

3. Waifus and Traps and 3D Pig Disgusting – Here’s where things start getting personal for a lot of you fucks. Kylaran already posted a wonderful article on this very blog (and another new one below) about how otaku perceptions have moved into a fascinating level beyond wish fulfillment and straight into reality changing. I think he does a really great job of explaining why it is I find the “waifu” fags to be particularly annoying. I am certain that 99.95% of the people who talk about “waifus” are simply pointing out characters that they like, admire, have a fascination with, or as Akira put it want to “bone”. This is not the group of people who disturb me. I, myself, have had a crush on more than one anime girl who I felt fit an ideal of what I find attractive in a mate. But I, like the other 99.95% of you, stopped there. I didn’t spend my days replacing reality with fantasy. Likewise I don’t sit around talking about the “2D world” as if it were my existence. Kylaran would disagree, but I think there is a certain level of mental sickness that has to come with this form of behavior. Rejection of reality isn’t just replacement with lofty ideals, it’s a rejection of nature. You’re basically saying you don’t want to breed, one of the most basic instincts of any human being. Considering things, I think you headcases are doing us all a favor.

As for the trap lovers, well, I understand that there’s a certain amount of psychological attraction to a person who is feminine while masculine at the same time. But, in the end, don’t split hairs guys… it just makes you gay. Deal with it.

2. Not All Hentai is Stroke Material – I would like to think that, in general, I’m a fairly open minded and understanding guy when it comes to fetishes. I understand that just because I don’t find something particularly appealing doesn’t mean everyone else feels the same way. I try at least to understand the fetishes, even if they’re not my bag. For example, I will never shit on someone nor will I ever allow someone to shit on me, but I understand the fetish as a rather gross extension of humiliation and domination. S&M is similar in form, but more violent, and also tends to be extremely primal and controlling. To each their own. However, I have to draw a line at a couple of disturbing fetishes: rape and guro.

Rape is, at it’s core, about control. Rape is rarely about love, rarer still about lust, and not even more rarely about the sex. A rapist is only concerned with making sure that you know you can’t do a damned thing to stop them from controlling you completely. It is the ultimate form of humiliation and the most primal of all fetishes. It is physically, mentally, and emotionally scarring for the victim, who often can never fully recover from the trauma. In terms used on Law & Order: SVU, “sexually based crimes are considered especially heinous”, and there is a reason for that. So I have to question the motivation in the enjoyment of this fetish. When it comes to hentai, this fetish, like loli and guro, has no actual victim. The animated characters are not real people committing crimes or being victimized. I understand that. But I have to wonder that if you’re seriously going to enjoy rape that much, then maybe that says something a little about you. Now, I’m not saying you’ll ever go rape anybody, because most of you pencil dicks are too pussy to actually try it, but there still is a certain level of mental derangement necessary to enjoy the desire to traumatize someone to this level. And this doesn’t even begin to take into account the completely unrealistic portrayal rape is often given in hentai (rape her two or three times and she’ll be your willing slave!). Rape, in all it’s forms, is a crime. Analyze yourself: are you attracted more to the crime or the control and humiliation of the act? Depending on how you answer, get help.

As for guro, like rape, you have to be some kind of psychopath to want to wrap your dick around someone’s entrails and get off. You’re basically admitting that you want to kill someone, eviscerate their corpse, and have your way with it. No, nothing mentally wrong here. But like with item #3 above, I’m relatively certain 99.95% of you aren’t actually into these fetishes and just use them as troll bait (which is also a justification for hating you).

1. A Couple of Words About Loli and Your Deteriorating Freedom – I can’t believe I am actually going to have to defend something related to the sickest freaks on the planet, but… nah I’ll get to that in a minute. First, I want to explain that I “get you”. I know you’re a pack of sicko pedophiles at heart, but at least you’re not out having sex with little girls. Going along with the 2D phenomenon, actual little girls aren’t your interest. You’re only interested in those unrealistically portrayed underage girls from manga and anime. Like I said above, I try to understand the fetishes. BUT… you pack of creeps need to wake the fuck up to your eroding rights to view said material. I’m going to modify an old saying during the last great upswing in personal liberty and freedom this country had: “I don’t like your hobby, but I am more than willing to defend your right to have it”.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, the world did indeed change. No, in the monumental schemes of the universe, nothing had really changed. The world would still go around and people would eventually get on with their lives. But thanks to a society utterly paralyzed with fear and clinging to whatever person would most deliver them from their terror, shit did indeed change. The Patriot Act is a fine example of what happens when society is willing to give up it’s personal freedoms for a perception of being safe. The problem is that the people in power took an even greater advantage of the situation and decided to not only strike at terrorists, but people who make them go “ewwww”. Enter “the Protect Act”. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, and I know most of you weren’t until recently, the Protect Act is basically a blatant violation of the First Amendment In essence, the design of the act is to not only block child pornography, but to block your lolicon material as well. For all of you laughing at Canada for banning lolicon material, laughing at Australia for banning lolicon material, and laughing at the United Kingdom for banning lolicon material, you were all too stupid to realize that your own country had passed a similar bill right under your fucking noses.

Worse, none of you has the balls to stand up for your rights. Take Christopher Handley for example. If you haven’t heard of him, you’re deaf and blind. Christopher Handley was busted for possession of lolicon and yaoi material shipped in from Japan and was prosecuted under the Protect Act. Instead of sticking up for himself and taking this law all the way to the Supreme Court to defend his love of “art”, he plead guilty. Sure, he gets to put this ordeal behind him in 6 months, but he’ll be labeled a sex offender for the res of his life. And for what? For looking at a bunch of drawings? The Legislature, whether at the state or federal level, is not allowed to determine what is or isn’t art. They are also not allowed to protect someone who can’t ever be a victim. But I don’t blame them for passing this stuff. After all, in their mind, you’re a bunch of dangerous time bombs ready to blow any moment and kidnap and molest their innocent young princesses. Instead of standing up for your rights, you’re allowing the government to label you with thought crime.

I wonder what E Minor would say now...

Because of this, US anime / manga distributor FUNimation decided to release a heavily edited version of Dance in the Vampire Bund. Putting aside that the anime is shit and not worth caring about, where will this end? FUNimation isn’t going to take the risks and defend their rights to distribute questionable material and neither is any other US based company. Japan is now heading in this direction as well. And what do you pack of chicken dicks do about it? Whine on the internet. Yeah, that’ll get shit done. Thomas Jefferson’s most famous quote has grown more apt in these troubling times: “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” If you’re not going to be vigilant and do anything about it, you deserve to have your rights taken away.

Oh and don’t look to me for help. I think you’re all sick fucks. I just think you have an obligation to stand up for yourselves.

* * * * *

Hopefully, those of you who have read my two part “Decade List” have decided to take these criticisms well. But, like I said, I know how you are.

If you want to talk about it, as before, I can be reached via e-mail at t…@nihonreview.com, comment below, or if you’re feeling froggy, come onto the forum for The Nihon Review and talk about it. No Twitter. Twitter is the stupidest fucking idea I’ve ever seen the internet come up with.

26 Responses
to “10 Things I Hate About You (Idiot Fans) Part B”

If anyone still doubted that your rant was anything more than ignorant grandstanding, this sort of seals it.

Also, kudos on the homophobe sentiment, and the whole “I’m not a better fan than you but you’re all sick in the head” line of argument. I’m particularly amused by the condemnation of nijikon that take it a bit far being immediately followed by drivel on rape fantasies that indicates a (pathological?) inability to tell fiction and reality apart.

As long as lolicon material keeps the perverts away from my children, they can fap themselves until blood comes out and die for it.

I can’t understand what with the Traps fascination, the most recent experience with trap-praising is with “Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu”, the anime shoves it to your face that it is okay to love/fap to Hideyoshi because of some unknown reason and even calling him genderless, it baffles me that so many people love this character just because the anime said so.

Will I even want to get on with a guy in real life? No.
Will I fantasize getting on with an anime trap? No.
Will I want to marry a trap? HELL NO! I am happily married to my sweet, wonderful cute endearing anime-watching wife
Will I hate any show with traps in sexual connotations? Perhaps.
Do I like traps? Yes.

what you are doing is alienate most viewers who can tell between reality and fiction. Those that can’t distinguish truth from fiction will not even read this or be seen by anyone.

I do agree that it gets disturbing when it translates to real life. However, I do not want to repeat MT-I but s/he nailed whatever I feel about this entry in the shortest number of words possible.

5) There are some anime titles that cheat both itself and the viewers (yes, NGE is the prime example) but I would go no further than just feel dissatisfied at the show itself. It’s bizarre to think that an author is forced/hounded to continue with something, despite the fact that the author actually owns it in the first place. It’s going against principles; it’s like my friend badgering me to finish up my work only because he wants me to. I’d kick him in the nuts if that were to happen.

I wonder what would happen if Mio from K-On! is being made a non-virgin by the author…

4) Related to point 4), but it’s the same thing: I don’t get what these jerks were thinking, too. Fanfics are nice and all, and in fact, it’s doesn’t hurt if some people wants to be creative and original with others’ work for personal leisure. It’s just that in this case, their imaginations and creativity take over their common sense.

3) Rather than hating or be disgusted them, I just pity them most of the time. Kylaran has explained on his side the observation and the supposed fundamental explanation for it, but I want to think that they’re just sad creatures. I just want to believe that sex with a real pussy is still better than any “waifu” can handle.

And it kinds worries me that this “waifu” phenomenon evolves into something more outlandish, like breeding 2D children or something. Or worse, having a 2D family.

2) Rape is just wrong. People who enjoy watching rape material are those enjoy who admit to themselves that they enjoy doing the wrong stuff. It’s really about violating the other party, and the material is a stepping stone to becoming a full-fledged rapist himself.

1) This point sounds a little contradictory to your previous posts, but I know what you’re trying to say (and yep, you’ve made it clear already that you try to understand people’s personal preferences as well). I don’t know what went through Handley’s mind for not defending himself; perhaps his conviction is fully brought by his own plea.

Great post here (also for the part A), TIF. Love how it’s being written, in full glory of the strong language.

As you said in your post, I really think there’s more to this whole reality/fiction separation that we very often make in real life. In particular, I think it’s very easy for those of us that are relatively grounded in the 3-D world to see other people as being in our shoes. Considering the fact that none of us can truly tell what’s going on in each others’ heads (in our own heads, for that matter), it’s quite difficult to make judgments about the reasons and justifications people have for behaving how they do.

With all that in mind, I think your article makes points and considerations from the viewpoint of someone who draws the lines at points and doesn’t really worry too much about the gray areas. For example, if rape = bad, then manga involving rape = bad. I think a lot of people are more cautious about equating these two (myself included), but I see where you’re coming from.

Which is why I don’t necessarily think you have to be psychopathic or homophobic to enjoy things like traps, rape, BDSM, and all the other things that are taboo in reality. If I remember correctly, they did some study on the number of women who had ever imagined themselves having sex with a male family member, and the results showed that there was a surprisingly high prevalence of it among the participants. Do they really approve of incest? Well, I dunno. But I know I do like the somewhat incestuous overtones in a lot of manga/anime. Maybe that makes me a freak. 😛

The problem with this article is that it takes a moral high ground. Kylaran mentioned “the gray areas”, which is significant and must be taken into consideration if you want to be credible.

On another note, and I don’t mean to be preachy, but life is not so straightforward. And there’s never one way of thinking about one thing. People have their reasons. I would not be so quick as to simplify the thought process of any given stranger. It’s like if a car nearly slams into yours. The knee-jerk reaction is that they’re crazy and being irresponsible for not watching the road. But what are the actual possibilities? The driver spilled boiling coffee on their thigh. The driver got some dust in her eye. The driver sneezed. In other words, Christopher Handley may have had reasons for pleading guilty that is more complex than the news or yourself make it seem. Are people who are into rape and guro sick? Or do they have some other problems? Why is there really an issue with this? Do these people still respect others or function in a normal, unharmful capacity everyday? I think you are too fast with your judgment.

And thank god rape porn and all kinds of weird porn exists. Because otherwise I’d be terrified to walk New York City streets. The internet and porn has done so much for society, yet barely anyone wants to credit it. All right, that is my partially unjustified opinion because the damn studies that prove those statements correct did a poor job of proving. It’s hard to quantify anyways, one would need to take into consideration the culture, the history, and a lot of other things of a particular society. For example, those studies that compare Japan’s low number of sexual assaults to the proliferation of pornography in the country are missing some variables (The Effects of Pornography: An International Perspective). Plus it did not focus on the internet, which is now probably 80% or more of the world’s access to porn.

But your ultimate point about standing up for one’s rights, one’s natural rights, and one’s freedoms will be taken seriously. It was a good way to end an article that otherwise could have been just a diatribe. Thanks.

Fetishes will always exist, because the human mind needs escapism to function when in the presence of stress. Taking the thought experiment too far is pointless, because entertainment is all about escapism. It’s easy to pretend your fetishes are “cleaner”, but they are still fetishes: harmless, except perhaps to your wallet.

Ours is simply a mind that caters to fear and intolerance, yet is too fucking stupid and lazy to do something meaningful about it. That’s why we have these “witch trials” over stuff like lolicon. We’re like caged animals, all pissing in one corner rather than trying to break free.

#2 kinda remind me of the RapeLay incident last year of this month where someone found it being sold on Amazon and well, hell broke lose. We have extremist feminists wanting to ban all eroge games (most of them are visual novels) with females in them and Japan trying to past draconian legislation that will hurt the eroge market… which the creators are obviously protesting. I have absolutely no interest in lolicon and prefer to have a real girlfriend that will get along with me. If there is no eroge visual novels, there won’t be any anime based on them, unless they make one free from eroge content.

We have to note that the cultural values from the West and the East are completely different. That type of content may not necessarily offend those in the East, but most certainty in the West and its just sad. If they don’t like it, just practice self censorship.

My friend recommended me to try playing that game back around 3 years ago (back then, the game could still be found if you try hard enough). I played it for a few weeks and though the nature of the game didn’t freak me out, I did find it quite unsettling. It’s especially for Manaka’s character; if you enjoy seeing her getting rape or something, you know there’s something wrong with you (or at least feel like it). I was even wondering how the hell Manaka’s seiyuu created such a voice work; I actually felt that I was raping the character myself.

I promptly put the game away for good… once I’ve completed the game. It was an eye-opener at first and I understand why it caused an uproar, but it didn’t work for me.

@AC
Well of course… Rape isn’t good, but I did try out Illusion’s Artifical Girl 3, which is basicly what it is… I found nothing special about the game except being a sex simulator, which bored the heck out of me… so I stopped playing…

I’m ambivalent about the whole Rapelay game since I haven’t played it.

Yes, I’ve viewed quite a few of these rape doujinshis and as mention above they are completely unrealistic. As for the crime itself in real life, completely unacceptable behaviour. That is the simple line.

Back to the game, I haven’t played it but from what I have heard it is a shockingly realistic simulator. Now as a gamer, I’m wondering about the controversy as video games have sought to push it with graphics and violence. I view the game as an experiment similar to GTA and Modern Warfare as another attempt to push the boundaries.

To the list.
5. Agreed
4. Take refuge in fanfiction, do not complain shippers.
3. I am sick of the Trap obsession. We get it, it looks like a girl. Now go to Thailand and meet some lady boy.
2. Guro- Am I the only one who thinks of this as just a violent (albeit disturbing) parody concocted up by some testoterone-fuelled guy who has been watched 10 too many horror movie and has gone again and decided to depict as much violence as possible?
1. Posting on imageboard, they protest later.

Hmmm… I was worried this half of the list would stir some strong responses. I want everybody to know I am not above being criticized. I find criticism to be the most helpful thing in solving my problems. If you can dish it out but not take it, and all that jazz. So let’s get to work.

@mt-i – “If anyone still doubted that your rant was anything more than ignorant grandstanding, this sort of seals it.”

Ignorance would be expecting someone who engages in the proliferation or enjoyment of artificial child porn to get on a soap box and proclaim to the world that they have rights. When the Chris Handley thing went down, I saw people bitching, raging, and complaining about it, but nobody doing anything. Were they angry because they were outraged or were they angry because they were all scared? You be the judge.

“Also, kudos on the homophobe sentiment”

What homophobe sentiment? I said liking traps makes you gay. What’s homophobic about that? Did I say anything, anywhere, that says there’s anything wrong with this? What is wrong is people denying it. You’re gay or bisexual, whatever you want to call it. Just deal with reality.

“and the whole “I’m not a better fan than you but you’re all sick in the head” line of argument.”

I’m not a better fan then they are. 0.05% of the people who indulge in those fetish behaviors are sick in the head. These two statements are not even remotely related. Did I say they were worse fans then I am? Worse people maybe… (remember, I am an elitist)

“I’m particularly amused by the condemnation of nijikon that take it a bit far being immediately followed by drivel on rape fantasies that indicates a (pathological?) inability to tell fiction and reality apart.”

You don’t think people have a problem telling fiction and reality apart? Have you read any of Kylaran’s articles?

@dood – Good example. “Why do I love Hideyoshi even though he looks like a girl but I know he’s a boy?” You know what they call boys who like other boys? Gay.

@Impz – “what you are doing is alienate most viewers who can tell between reality and fiction. Those that can’t distinguish truth from fiction will not even read this or be seen by anyone.”

You think I wrote this so only the people I’m bitching about would read it? This is a wake up call for all fans.

@kluxorious – Good luck when the morality police come. They already think you’re sub-human. Trying to convince them otherwise is a monumental task.

@kylaran – “Maybe that makes me a freak.”

The thing is, we’re all freaks about something. But why does the word “freak” even exist in this connotation? Where does anybody get to judge another person based on their sexual behavior? I made my case above for only two particular fetishes of which I find to be dangerous, and I can actually point to a secular reason for why I find them dangerous. Other people just proclaim these things as “wrong” and leave it at that. Those same ‘other people’ are the ones in charge of society and wish to control our actions. Based on morality, people have tried to control what goes on in other people’s bed rooms for centuries. The justification is always something intangible or ambiguous, and without any logical structure whatsoever. I guess what I am saying is, where do people get off on judging other people on how they get off and why in the hell aren’t the rest of us just telling them to go fuck themselves?

@gaguri – Angry soundtrack? Like heavy metal? God no. Then I’d sound like a Michael Savage segment and I sure as hell don’t want to be associated with that clown!

@Tamashii – Morality is relative to the individual. In this case, my morality is based on secular reasoning. It is wrong to threaten people with death; this is a criminal behavior. It is wrong to ignore the repression of society against your rights; this is allowing tyranny. It is wrong to venture too deeply into artificial worlds to find happiness; this is escapism. I try to form my morality based on logic and ethics. I’m not just arbitrarily coming up with stuff because it “bugs me” like some would. I don’t always succeed, but I try. The rape and guro argument would be a sign of me stretching logic to justify my morality. In that, and only in that, do I think I failed to come across as rational. But I’m trying.

@metzger – And what is keeping people locked in those cages? Again, it’s fear. Overcoming that fear is the first step in being able to overcome society’s oppression.

@Michael is Low on Hit Points – I sort of see what you’re saying there about 5 tying into 10, but while they may have the same root cause, they’re completely different effects. Originally when I was drafting this article, 5 was still 5 and 10 was still 10, but a lot of these other ones got mixed around. Originally my #1 was #6, for example, and #1 was #2. My fellow NHRV writers suggested a different way of approaching this article, and they were right. It’s much better now than it was before.

@chikorita157 – And with the RapeLay incident, public opinion against anime fans skewed even farther into the negative. We don’t seem to realize we’re killing ourselves in the public eye. We want to have our fandom without criticism, but that’s just bullshit. Slowly our freedoms for enjoying anime have been eroded by people who flat out do not understand anything about otaku, Japan, or the cultural differences (as you stated) between west and east. They also don’t care, and that makes the whole thing really dangerous.

@nana – In order:
5. Thanks.
4. Basically.
3. The overuse of the trap archetype is a direct result of fan behavior, just like every piece of moe bologna we’ve gotten in the last few years. Thing is, I don’t really care if there ARE traps, I just wish people would stop denying that traps aren’t about liking male characters.
2. Which is why I mentioned the 99.95% thing. A vast minority actually enjoys that. I’m sure of it.

I understand that violence is entertainment to a lot of people. But entertainment is not what I’m talking about. If you actually get sexually aroused by seeing a woman being gutted like a pig or a baby torn out of a woman’s womb and fucked by a President of the United States, there is something wrong with your mind.
1. If by protest you mean “rage” and it’s forgotten about a week later, yeah I agree with you.

I appreciate everybody taking the time out to address their criticisms I will take them all to heart and learn from my mistakes.

nice job on Part A for the most part. Part B rubbed me the wrong way not because of its content but because of the way you approached it.

#10: I can see why this bothers you but im pretty sure it’s easier for someone who’s use to watching anime in .rm to complain a lot less about the quality of fansubs now-a-days. I’ve been watching anime for a long time also and did my fair share of complaining about shit so i’d be surprised to find out that you’ve never complained about the quality of the anime you use to watch 10 years ago as well.

#9: I can see why this bothers you, that screen cap really drove home your point.

#8: wisdom.

#7-6: annoying when the preaching begins sure but to each their own. found it hard to swallow these two because you sound so gosh darn golly anifan elitist. im aware that your argument is “im not a better fan than anyone else im just much more elite in general” which makes perfect sense and all but maybe elaborate for me.

#5-4: #5 in particular saved this article for me. reading about the evafan backlash after the series concluded really brought back some memories for me. I was even inspired to revisit some of those incidents.. pretty outrageous stuff. I couldn’t agree with you more on #5 minus calling everyone faggots etc.

#3-1: p. much all of the things you’ve mentioned are popular because they’re humorous/taboo. If it’s funny people will talk about it and crack jokes. whats important is that pretty much all of the stuff you mentioned hardly ever ruffles any irl feathers. some dude goes on trial cuz he bought some loli merchandise.. alright.. well he didn’t have sex with an underage girl so like, why the hell are you so pissed off about this stuff. if you’re mad because the guy didn’t stand up for himself than tell me exactly how that relates to lolis and yaoi. if the vast minority truly enjoy or practice any of these things why are you letting them get the best of you? if you simply brought them up and didnt cuss every other sentence i would have been much more understanding i think.

@maculid – I find your appraisal of both articles interesting, seeing as how I was much more brash in Part A than Part B.

10 – That would be a negative. I have never complained about the quality of anime that is provided to me for free.

9 – The point of 9 wasn’t to just bitch about fansubbers and what they do, but how they consistently enable the behavior of 10 to happen.

8 – And yet, it persists.

7 & 6 – I’ve gone over this already.

5 & 4 – I find it interesting that these two items are okay, but 7, 6, 3, 2, and 1 aren’t. I’m doing the exact same thing.

3, 2, & 1 – I would love to think that you’re right and that these things are just humorous / taboo and harmless. But I’m afraid that just isn’t fact.

Here’s a test, go outside and find some random stranger and tell them that in the anime Gurren Lagann, there is a fourteen year old girl depicted as a sex object. See how they react. You don’t think this stuff ruffles feathers IRL? What the fuck does that even mean “in real life”? You think we’re all playing games here? Living in some sort of fantasy world? This is real life, my friend.

What I am pissed about when it comes to Christopher Hadley isn’t what he was accused of, it’s the fact that he was allowed to be accused at all. The Protect Act is a blatant violation of the First Amendment, but nobody outside of anime fandom is going to give a shit. They all equate a drawing of a little girl as the same thing as someone taking a little girl and photographing them. Mentally, the loli fan might be as disgusting as a pedophile, but physically things are completely different. That we are allowing our country to do this to us, and because of it, a US distribution company is having to release a censored version of an anime just to protect themselves from prosecution is not a great trend. Where does it end? How long will it take the “morally outraged” to ban anime altogether as pedophilic material unfit for the safety and security of the American public?

@The Typical Idiot Fan
Yeah, I get what you mean. I understand some of the frustration since I am actual Asian American, although not Japanese. I have a share of discrimination and racism in my school years prior to college and it’s because some people are prejudice to Asians simply because we are different. I highly doubt that that these people will ever accept cultural difference because in human nature, all people are prejudiced simply because most people can’t accept things that they don’t like, etc and I highly doubt it will change in the future… unless there is some miracle that happens that allows everyone to understand each cultures… but the chances for that is slim to none…

I’ve really have never seen or faced much of this Prejudice myself. I grew up in California, in the San Fransisco Bay Area. So, it was a rather diverse population where people simply knew about the other culture on the block.

As for the matter of Loli material, it would be interesting to see how it would have gone in the Supreme Court. Roth v. U.S. would be the major rally point for those wishing censorship, as the case states:

“‘obscene’ material has no protection under the First Amendment”

Of course, this is from 1957, where things were far more conservative. It is essentially superseded by the 1999 FSC v. Reno, which TIF mentions, and states that one cannot ban Materials out of “Religious or political” fears. However, “Clear and present danger” still applies. Of course, I really don’t see lolicon’s being a clear and present danger to the security of the U.S.

Lastly there is Ashcroft v. FSC from 2002. Where artistic representation of Nudity is protected under the 1st amendment. In this case, it was an Artist and a Photographer. However, it should be noted that there was a dissent lodged during the case by Rehnquist. Stating something along the lines that with advancing technology, the line between simulated and real obscene material will be far more difficult to judge.

@TIF
Thanks for the response. In particular, the Chris Hadley bit was beautifully restated and cleared quite a few things up for me.

Like i said, the reason i agree with #5 and #4 is because to me these arguments make sense like many of the arguments you went on about in Part A. Its hard for me to stomach things like death threats and vandalism within the anime industry. People cracking jokes about waifus and traps is another thing. Most of that stuff hardly ever crosses over into real life.

I think the #1 thing some anime fans forget is that at the end of the day, it’s just a goddamn TV series, and people need to chill the f**k out.

Fangroups behind on subbing? GOD FORBID you watch an episode a few days late. Or even a week late. Whatever will you do in that time? Clearly not carry on with your life… better rage on the internet (you know, cause people on the internet really give a shit).

Think you’re better than other fans, or people who watch American television instead? Yeah, so you’re better at… watching television. Put that way, it’s not so impressive.

My personal belief is that most anime fans are pretty chill motherf**kers, but that there’s a small and very vocal minority that ruins the image for the rest of it. It’s because of a lot of the shit you mentioned in your article (weeaboos thinking anime is better than everything Western, raging over trivial shit, etc.) that I am really hesitant to admit to people that I watch some anime. I really do not want to be associated with that crowd, and it’s an association that people pretty much immediately make.

Found the article interesting but was it truly necessary to constantly use the word fag or faggot? Do you think it is possible there may be some readers who may take offense to this? I would guess that your gay/lesbian readers might. As a 32 year old man and someone who is a fan of a niche hobby, where you may have been ridiculed yourself, I think your labeling of fans you don’t like as fags is pretty ignorant. You know what type of fans I hate? The old guard holier than thou homophobes who can defend rape fetish and loli but is a afraid of a large segment of our population, and probably some of his own readers! I guess Typical Idiot Fan really does suit you!